Can you believe Ramadan is right there at the corner? Sometimes it feels it came way too fast, but I can’t help it but say that it has come at a time when it is needed. I feel like I have a terribly parched soul, just struggling to get in terms with everything that is happening. For surely, this month comes like a relief at the right time. For me, Ramadan is like a breath of fresh air. A change in routine, a more balanced life, a peaceful thought process, a new hope… It literally recharges all the dying batteries within you. I am sure that feeling comes because the devils are chained during this precious month. There is no one but ourselves to beat when they are off our head. It takes some time to realize that there is a lot of inbuilt evil within ourselves, when…
Be My Guest – Chepala Pulusu/ Andhra Fish Curry
As I was scheduling the last laddoo post, I was in for a surprise. For the Recipe Swap, I was assigned Usha’s blog, and the same blogger is gracing my space this month as the guest! What a lovely coincidence! 🙂 I have been harassing Usha (if that’s an apt word!) for a guest post since months now. Somehow I didn’t feel like leaving her alone. Finally she is on my blog… 🙂 I started interacting with Usha when I joined the Blogging Marathon. We may not have participated in too many mutual weeks, but I totally love her blog. It has lovely clicks and some very simple recipes, captured in a very attractive manner. I have already written about her blog in my last post, so I won’t be mentioning more. 🙂 I guess this is my first fish recipe provided by a guest to my blog….
Besan Aloo Mirchi ki Sabzi | Potato Capsicum Curry
I wish I didn’t have to crib. Everyday I have a tough time trying to decide what to cook for dinner. I seem to find that it is getting tougher as the girls grow up. When I started blogging, they were small so they would eat anything that was given to them. But now, they frown and scorn for anything that I make, except pizzas. 😕 Being a mother, this is totally frustrating. With a totally tight schedule these days, I look forward to cooking meals that get done in 30 minutes. Rasha loathes eggs and any dal curry, while Azza is indifferent towards chicken and meat – I wonder if there are kids like that these days! Vegetables are an even big no-no, except for a cucumber daily. My girls don’t even like whole lentils or potatoes. Sometimes, I feel so lost… but then I pull out my…
Easy Palak Paneer
I owe this Palak Paneer recipe to Huma. She shared this recipe with me before she posted it on her blog and made me fall for it head over heels. I never liked making palak paneer before. If you see most of the recipes online, they involve a lot of steps. It makes you feel like making this humble dish is such a pain. But this recipe changed my whole thought process. This recipe is the second one to feature in this week’s theme of “Cooking for 2” in the Blogging Marathon #98. Paneer is something I have been eating every single day since last January, as a part of my protein intake. It is something that we Keralites never eat. I have already mentioned before on the blog that my family shares a mixed relationship with this ingredient. So I don’t cook it frequently. But for myself,…
Macher Jhol ~ Bengali Fish Potato Curry
Some recipes have a very strange way of getting into your head. Just like this peculiar Bengali delicacy of a fish curry called “Macher Jhol”. Once upon a time, this You Tube video was shared on somebody’s FB wall and I ended up watching it. I usually don’t watch any videos unless something piques me and I really don’t know what was it in this video. As soon as I heard it, it would continuously sing in my head, and I am sure if you hear it for one time, the “Macher Jhoool” that she sings will echo in your ears and head every time! To get rid of that echo, I had to make this curry after making my batch of Panch Phoron. 😀 Fish and potatoes are a very unusual combination for us. We always add our potatoes to chicken or meat, but never fish. So…
Be My Guest – Thai Green Curry
Things have been moving at a much slower pace than I expected this year. But if you ask me how I feel about it, I feel absolutely fine. 🙂 My mind is relaxed because I am away from pressurizing myself unnecessary regarding the blog. I have finally learned to slow down, and it feels really good. When priorities change in life, you need to balance out so that you don’t tend to burn out yourself. It takes time to learn, but definitely not impossible… It’s been long since I have had a guest on the blog. I have not been inviting anybody as such too. Everybody is tied up with many things and sometimes even meeting time commitments becomes a pressure on them. So when I was wondering whether to give this series a stop, I receive an email from Spoorthy regarding the “Be My Guest” segment. I have…
Ishtu ~ Kerala Vegetable Stew
While I posted the Idiyappam/ Noolputtu recipe couple of months ago, I had hinted that I would post the Ishtu recipe too. It was peaking from behind, so it didn’t make sense to delay this post indefinitely. Hehe… After all the combination of these two is quite a hit… I always wonder why Ishtu is called so. I am sure it is the Malayalamized version of the English word “stew”. Can you see the connection? When umma would make this, I would always think that she is making fun of the name, but lately realized that she was saying its proper name. 😀 I guess we all would have thought of it that way some time in our life! Ishtu is basically a potato stew, made with minimal spices and coconut milk. It is very easy to make, but the spices added gives it such a delicious dimension. …
Malabar Avial/ Aviyal
It was a really happening weekend for me. The Sharjah Book Fair opened to the public over the weekend, and I went there on Friday and Saturday. The Friday agenda was to attend my dear blogger friend Faji’s book launch. Yes, she is finally an author of her own cookbook, Faji’s HotPot. I was anyway going, but in the afternoon, I was greeted by a message from her and her husband, insisting that I be the first purchase at the launch. I was totally overwhelmed but anyway, accepted it, thinking it would be fine. Least did I expect that I would be called to share stage and talk a few words! It did make me a nervous wreck altogether – I have a fear of public speaking, though I have been into it at school and college – feels like eons now! 😀 We had an amazing function, Fajee…
Paneer Matar Masala | Matar Paneer
For this week’s Blogging Marathon #93, the theme I had chosen was “One Ingredient – 3 ways” and the ingredient I chose was “paneer”. After the first recipe of the Kadai Paneer, here is another paneer gravy. If you really go to see, there is one standard way of making paneer gravies. A ground paste of onion and tomato is used as a base and the seasonings are adjusted as per your needs. Since paneer in itself is rich, you can skip the use of cream in the gravy. But to make paneer taste and look more tempting, the use of cream or yogurt – to make it more guilt free – is always recommended. I would like to emphasis on the use of kasuri methi. A sprinkling of crushed kasuri methi just lifts up the whole spirit of a simple paneer dish. So whatever said and done,…
Vegetable Kurma | Cheat Version!
With life getting so hectic, cooking has taken a back seat. I do a lot of meal prepping for myself and for the family, I settle down with meals that are really easy to cook. I am trying to update some 30 minute meals on this blog and hopefully will try to update my old posts with the tag so that I can feature it on my sidebar for easy review, InShaAllah. There’s a lot of polishing to be done on my old posts, I will slowly work on that part and try to update all the categories and tags by the end of this year. I am hoping I will be able to look into those by slowing down on my blogging. Let’s see… 🙂 Meanwhile, bringing you one of the best easy fix curries I have made… There was this blog called Chef El Dente that…
Baked Yogurt Curry Chicken
I love quick fix meals. All of you must be knowing it if you are regular readers of my blog. Anything that just needs a mix and cook qualifies as a super easy meal for me. I found this recipe in the same booklet which had the Malai Chicken recipe. I have been eyeing it for so long, but I have no clue why I didn’t try it earlier. I truly believe now everything has a time, right… 🙂 The beauty of this recipe is that you don’t have to slog in the kitchen for too long. We are having peak summers and standing in the kitchen is becoming a nightmare. I haven’t experienced this kind of heatwave in all these years. I am attributing my hotter-than-usual kitchen to the construction that is happening in the little stretch facing the area. It used to be an open car…
Muringakaaya Chelli Parippu Curry ~ Malabar Drumstick Lentil Curry with Dried Shrimp
Time for the second week of the Blogging Marathon #88! After choosing “Protien Rich Ingredient” as the first theme, where I chose eggs, and featured Double Cheese Omelette, Akuri and Microwave Omelette, the second week theme that I chose was also another protien ingredient – “Dazzling Dals”. I had already done a lentil theme in one of the previous BM edition, but then lentil recipes are never enough, right? We are always looking at new ways of cooking up lentils so that people who have folks like me at home who frown at the sight of lentils will at least eat them without much fuss. 😀 The first recipe I am featuring is an example of how we Malabaris love to add a non-vegetarian twist to our vegetarian dishes. Hehe… Most of the households will have a little jar of “chelli” (ചെള്ളി) in our pantry. It is basically…
Marrag Samak ~ Emirati Fish Stew
I have had a slightly messed up April. From the beginning of this year, I have been following a schedule to ensure that I work on my postings and used to stick to it. I did the same thing for April as well, but in between, I had a slag in my mood. Somehow, all of a sudden, I really didn’t want to blog or do anything related to the blog. That converted me who is such a stickler to my plans to somebody who didn’t really bother about it. But then it is people who go through the same stress as yours who understand how it feels to blog and to not blog. A little chat with Shanaz literally pepped me up to continue with my blogging. I am hoping that the mood does hold on for some time at least! 🙂 It’s been sometime since I…
Instant Sambar
I really don’t understand why weekends wear skate boards. Or maybe something faster than that! 😕 They just come and go, with things done half and Saturday nights is for yearning and wishing I had more time. If anybody asks me what did I do over the weekend, I did nothing much but I still did something. Some shopping, sat simply at home working on the old posts on the blog, and then visited a friend of mine – I guess that does sound like a decently packed weekend! I guess I need to learn how to space out my time so that I don’t feel drained… hmm… Coming to today’s recipe… I had already mentioned how crazy my girls are for idlis. Leftover batter is usually loosened out and converted to dosas. Most of the time, my girls need it only with their favorite coconut chutney, but…
Caril De Galinha ~ Goan Chicken Curry
It’s been a real long time since I participated in the Sshh Cooking Challenge. Recently, to make it interesting, the challenge had started exploring state wise and started from A. Though I would have loved to be a part of it, my family isn’t very receptive to all kind of foods and also, my time is becoming really tight of late, so I decided to give the challenge a break. Mayuriji was very understanding, and I did mention that when I felt like it, I would be part of the challenge. This month, it was Goa and I was in two minds. I hadn’t signed up initially but then it happened that there was one extra participant without a partner, and without thinking two times, I jumped in. I am glad that I did! 😀 Like I mentioned, this month, we are exploring Goan cuisine. Goa needs no…